Health overhaul roundup: Analyzing the individual mandate, watching the politics around reform

While last week's biggest news focused on the court action surrounding the health law, some reports now analyze the controversial provision at the heart of these cases and what the future could look like if it did or did not survive. But reform news also translates into political news, as PolitiFact pinpoints its "Lie of the Year" and the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports on how federal reforms could influence the state's gubernatorial election.

The Kansas City Star: Loss Of Individual Mandate Might Not Damage Health Care Reform
Some supporters of the nation's health care reform law offered a surprising new argument last week: The death of the law's individual mandate might actually be a good thing. The mandate — a requirement that virtually everyone buy health insurance by 2014 — is clearly the most unpopular and legally difficult part of the health care package (Helling, 12/19).

Kaiser Health News: One of the most contentious aspects of the new health care law has been the "individual mandate," a requirement that nearly everyone have health insurance by 2014. A federal district judge in Virginia ruled that this section of the law is unconstitutional, further fueling the debate over whether the federal government can require people to be insured. But even if the mandate takes effect in three years, experts acknowledge that some people are certain to still be without coverage" (Parashar, 12/20).

National Journal: Video: What Is Health Care Reform Minus The Insurance Mandate?
National Journal's Matthew DoBias examines what a recent court ruling could mean for health care overhaul if the health insurance mandate is excised from the law passed earlier this year (DoBias, 12/17).

Star Tribune: PolitiFact: 'Government Takeover' Of Health Care Is Lie Of Year
PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning truth-in-politics reporting project started by the St. Petersburg Times, has named "A government takeover of health care'' as its 2010 "Lie of the Year'' (12/19).

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Health Reform In D.C. Could Influence Gubernatorial Race
The fractious debate over health care reform has mostly been a federal affair. But if the version favored by the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate becomes law, leaders in the states could play a huge role by choosing to opt out of the so-called "public option" (Sheinin, 12/19).

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.